Credit terms
Remember that all General and
Foundation terms may be used.
Credit Terms Alphabetically
12 string, slide guitars and fretless bass
A capella - voices alone - no instruments
Alberti bass - notes of a chord played separately, in
the left hand of a keyboard
Aleatoric - literally ‘left to chance’
Arco - with the bow - stringed instruments
Aria - a melodic song from an opera. (Italian?)
Atonal - does not settle in any key
Boogie-woogie - 1920s piano style
Perfect/Imperfect cadence - complete/incomplete
Cadenza - ‘show off’ section for solo instrument
Cantata/Oratorio/Passion - religious, chorus, soloists,
orchestra, words from the Bible
Chorale/hymn tune - 4 part voices, in German?
Chords I, IV, V, VI - listen!
Chorus - (usually) male and female voices together
Classical -1750-1800. Piano, strings, simple harmony,
not too many chord changes
Coda - a tail piece at the end.
Col legno - strings instruments to play with the
wooden side of the bow
Con sordino - with mutes. Usually brass.
Contrapuntal - parts moving against one another,
at different times
Counter melody - separate melody against the tune
Country - American/slide guitars/fiddle
Cross rhythms - different rhythms at the same time
Discord – nasty sounds!
Dixieland – 1920s, jazzy, trumpet, clarinet
Dotted rhythms – ‘amsterdam’ sounds
Double stopping – two notes at the same time on
a string instrument
Flutter tonguing – Listen! (Flute, trumpet)
Glissando – a slide – trombone, strings
Grace note – ‘extra’ decorative notes
Ground bass – a tune in the bass, repeated over and
over again
Homophony – all parts moving together. ( Or one
melody with accompaniment)
Impressionist – paints a‘dreamy’ picture.
(Whole tone scale)
Indian – tabla, sitar
Interval – the distance between two notes
Inverted pedal – high note, held over the music
Major – bright and cheery
Melismatic – a few notes for each syllable
Minimalist – short ideas, repetition
Minor – sad, gloomy effect
Modal – folky, neither major nor minor
Modulation – changing key
Relative major/minor – same key, almost!
Muted – brass, strings quieten down (con sordino)
Obbligato – an obligatory (essential) decorative
part of a piece – flute, trumpet
Passing note – joins two melody notes together
Pedal – held or repeated note in the bass
Pibroch – complex solo bagpipe tune
Pizzicato – plucked strings
Polyphony – parts moving at different times
Recitative – sung speech – often in an opera/musical
Register – how high or low instruments sound
Relative – major/minor keys, almost same notes
Blues/Whole tone – Listen!
Scherzo – bright, quick 3 in the bar (waltz)
Sitar – Indian ‘guitar’
Soul – black American, religious
Strophic – song where each verse has the same tune
Suspension – discord, which resolves down
Syllabic – one note for each syllable
Tabla – two Indian drums, tied around the waist
Through-composed – a song where each verse has a
different tune
Tierce de Picardie – minor tune ends with a
major chord
Tonal – has a recognisable key
Tremolo – shake between two notes, often far apart
Trill – shake between two notes next door
Triplets – 3 notes in the time of 2 – ‘strawberry’
Vibrato – a gentle shake to improve the sound
Voices – mezzo = medium high, countertenor = very
high male, baritone = medium male
Word setting – melisma or syllabic
Word painting – music illustrates the word – shake,
tumble,